Pothen Vava Review

Pothen Vava may not be a great film, but it is an enjoyable one with drama, action, comedy, sentiments et al in the right dosageUnni NairMon, 23 Oct 2006

AUDIENCE RATING

Mammootty and Joshy are back with a bang in Pothen Vava. For quite some time Joshy had been churning out films that lacked his typical touch. Some of them made it at the box office; but those who cherished memories of films like Nirakoottu, New Delhi, Nair Saab, Dhruvam, Kauravar and the like, missed the Joshy stamp in the new releases. Now, after quite a gap, comes a film which has Joshy written all over it. Pothen Vava, in which the Director joins hands with his favourite star Mammootty after a hiatus, is likely to satisfy the fans of both the Director and the actor.

Pothen Vava tells the story of Vava, the son of Kurishuveettil Mariamma, popularly known as Vakeelamma. In his village Palliyangadi, frequent clashes take place between the Vaddakkeyangaadi group led by Kurishuveettil Mariamma and Vava, and the Thekkeyangaadi group led by Pulikaattil Vakkachchan and his sons Anto and Paul. However, Vakkachchan's youngest daughter Gladys, who had been a junior to Vakeelamma when the latter was a practicing lawyer, is now herself a lawyer and with the tacit approval of her father, stands by the Kurishuveettil family in all law-suits.

Meanwhile the usual clashes erupt between the two factions regarding the church festival. When Vava is selected to head the festivities for the year, the Thekkeyangaadi group objects saying that Vava, born to a Christian Mother and a Brahmin father (Melpathoor Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri, a singer), was never baptized, and so could not head the festivities. Following this objection Vava decides to get baptized, but Vakeelamma says that he must first seek his father's permission, though his father and mother had been divorced years ago.

Vava goes to see his father who is now a renowned singer. He is welcomed by his father's manager Sivankutty, Sivankutty's sister Gayathri and others. But there is someone who wants to see Vava dead. This leads to the climax of the film, which has been well written and well filmed.

Pothen Vava may not be a great film, but it is an enjoyable one with drama, action, comedy, sentiments et al in the right dosage. The major attraction is that the film does not bore you. Mammootty gives a good performance as Vava, while Usha Uthup is good as Vakeelamma. Nedumudi Venu as Melpathoor Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri, Gopika as Gladys, Rajan P. Dev as Vakkachchan, Saikumar as Sivankutty, and Samvritha as Gayathri do justice to their roles. Manikandan, who plays Vava's constant companion Mathai, is brilliantly funny.

Benny P. Nayarambalam has done a tight script, adding in right measure all the ingredients that go to make a commercially successful film. Cinematographer Sanjeev Shankar, Art Director Joseph Nellickal and Editor Ranjan Abraham have given ample support to the Director. Songs penned by Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma and set to tune by Alex Paul may not be as appealing as the songs of Classmates, but they certainly blend well with the story. To sum up, Lal Creations has delivered yet another film that could set the cash registers ringing.